This invention relates to distributed data communication networks.
The use of distributed data communication networks is a well-known concept for data communication between several users. The advantages of the concept are that functional separations between a distributed transmission network and the rules that determine the communication needs are characteristics of the different users. For a network to be truly distributed, all nodes to which the users are connected must be identical. Each node must contain the mechanism of transmitting messages, error control and fault detection. The transmission network should be independent of any hierarchy or control characteristics which may exist amongst the users and as such, master or slave users may move around and connect to different network nodes with no impact on the transmission network.